IVE GOT ANOTHER PLANE COMING- SUPER SPORTSTER. I WAS GOING TO USE THE RADIO FROM MY ELECTRISTAR (PURCHASED SEPERATE FLIGHT PACK FOR SPORTSTER) UNTIL I WAS ABLE TO SELL OFF THE ELECTRISTAR. WILL I BE ABLE TO BUY THE TRANSMITTER ONLY ONCE THE TIME COMES? OR SHOULD I RETURN THE FLIGHT PACK AND JUST BUY A COMPLETE RADIO PACKAGE.

new plane get new radio stuff. a radio package you can get for well under two hundred dollars that will last you ten years.

A Futaba flight pack and crystal will cost you $122.98 at Tower Hobbies. A full radio system costs you $119.99. They're basically giving you three bucks to take their radio.

If you have the ElectriStar RTF; it came with a Futaba 4EXA, which is a basic computer radio with four model memory.
It has end point adjustment on all four channels, some basic mixing, and exponential.

Until you get more than four planes, or need more features or channels, I'd just buy flight packs. You can "build your own" flight packs at places like www.servocity.com to choose the components you want. Hitec, and others, make receivers that are compatible with Futaba transmitters. Virtually all modern servos are compatible with other brand transmitters and receivers.

When you do want a new transmitter, you can buy some as "transmitter only." The Hitec Optic 6 is one example. Servo City, and others, sell the Futaba 9C by itself. They use the rest of the components in their "build your own" flight packs; or sell them seperately.

Wow, I can't believe the 4 Channel Futaba radio comes with an 8 channel received. I have never looked before, but according to the following page at Tower it does

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXEFJ4**&P=0

If so this is an excellent deal. Granted after a while I would probably be paying people to take my extra radios off my hands

However, If you buying from serocity, then check the price of the transmitter alone, and the basic package with servos and all. Its $15 less to the 9CAS with the 8 channel PCM reciever and 4 S3003 servos and AA battery harness and a micro switch, than it is to get just the radio and the same reciever. Also, if you want the 600mAh 4.8V flat battery and the standard swtich, its still $5 cheaper than the radio and same receiver alone.

O and http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXGAF2**&P=0 costs less than the same Tx and same Rx alone on Servo City.

I think the main reason the put in the 8 ch receiver is because it's their highest volume receiver. It probably costs less to manufacture (due to volume) than a 4 channel unit, if they even make a full range 4 channel unit.

I agree that you always have to do your "homework" when you're ready to buy. No matter who you buy from, it's almost always less expensive to buy a "package" than it is to buy a bunch of individual parts.

Are you guys able to get onto www.servocity.com? Nothing comes up.

A Futaba buddy box normally sells for $39.99 without the cable. Folks are also on the lookout for an extra radio here and there so they can use them with various flight simulators. A brand new Futaba 4YF without the flight pack won't bring a lot of money on E-Bay or here at the RC Universe buy and sell section, but if you paid -$3.00 for it, every dollar you get out selling one just makes your flight pack that much cheaper.